Those that break a thing

Often Does Hatred Hurt Itself

There’s a contentious old saying among some pilgrims that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is the antithesis of Wisdom. Avigliana di Sarvos rejected this idea, writing that it was fundamentally impossible to do the same thing more than once simply because the world is not static. Regardless, even she grudgingly accepted that there was a grain of truth in the words, because those who refuse to learn from their mistakes all too easily become trapped in a cycle of failure.

A little over a month before the Autumn Equinox, the Children of Wrecks attacked Trivento. Again. One thing you can say about the Children of Wrecks, they're no advocates of Wisdom. This time, however, they have adjusted their strategy such as it is. They have seen first-hand the coastal defences of Sarvos and they take fewer risks. Or, perhaps more truthfully, those prone to charge straight in trusting to their bloodthirsty “goddess” to protect them died in the first assault.

This time, the Gathered Storm is significantly larger. They have clearly pulled in all their ships, all the pirates and raiders and thieves and cutthroats from across the Bay and beyond, swelling their numbers significantly over what attacked the League last season. The flagship of their ragtag armada, the Storm’s Child, crackles with barely contained energy, some destructive enchantment woven by High Priestess Shivaarn and her coven. The fallen corsairs loyal to Isidore i Boyaga, and the corrupt false-steading of Liath’s Blade under the command of Captain Ioan Bloodstride further enhance their ability to fight the Empire.

The former Grendel vessels, the pirates, and the betrayers, are joined by another group of traitors. A dozen ships of the Iron Confederacy, many still showing the damage they took in their escape from Axiom Prison, bearing former prisoners and lead by a cabal of Suranni magicians - servants of Dumon who have thrown their lot in with the followers of the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom that sends her children to whip the mortals into a frenzy of plunder and bloodletting.

Arrayed against them, the strength of the Great Chain of Sarvos, the garrison of Our Lady of Pride... and the Red Wind Corsairs.

White Foam is Flying

The core of the Red Wind has always been drawn from the corsair families of Madruga and Feroz. These families suffered greatly at the hands of the Grendel, and the Children of Wrecks. The curses of Siakha have separated the Cazar Straits and the islandds of Free Landing from the Coast, isolating them with churning seas and terrible monsters. The servants of Siakha squat among the splendor of the Freeborn captains, occupying Atalaya and Shantarim.

While their homes may have been stolen, surprisingly few of the corsair ships were captured or destroyed by the Children. The families of many of the Red Winds soldiers still have the kind of powerful fighting ships that are needed to fight effectively at sea. A year ago the Imperial Senate granted leave to the Corsairs to build on these resources to change their approach to warfare. They embraced a proposal put forward by Graciana i Lòpez i Guerra during her appraisal into ways for the Empire to disrupt naval control of the Bay. Drawing on their heritage, the Red Wind could embrace the Corsair mastery of the sea to face the Children of Wrecks and the Grendel on equal footing.

At the core of the new army, three great ships - The Erigo, The Riqueza, and The Guerra. Their dedicated crews can bring them quickly to any port on the Bay of Catazar, and around this solid core, the ships of the corsairs can rally. Vessels belonging to patriotic Freeborn captains, those prepared to directly support the army, can muster together to help the Corsairs put to sea.

Following the Summer Solstice, the Red Wind marches to Sarvos from Mitwold. The three founding ships are already at anchor in the city. Answering the call, the Corsair families dispatch vessels from all over the Empire to join them in anticipation of the arrival of the Freeborn marines. The city rings to the laughter and cheers of the Brass Coast, as soldiers are reunited with family members they have not seen in months. The passion of the Corsairs is contagious; an almost festive atmosphere falls over the City of Masks.

This is the first time the Red Wind Corsairs’ new strategy will be tested; the enthusiasm and pride is tempered by just a little sprinkle of anxiety about how well things will hold together. These worries prove unfounded; the crews of the three flagships are mostly drawn from surviving veterans of the Freeborn Storm and they have a wealth of experience melding together disparate crews and captains to a single aim. There is a palpable sense of anticipation in the air… and then the Children of Wrecks attack Trivento again.

Battle of Trivento

While they may be taking to the sea, the Red Wind Corsairs are still an Imperial force, and they are called to defend the Empire. While those soldiers who have not yet secured berths on a corsair vessel march east with their League peers, the ships that are already outfitted for war answer the call to battle. With the flagships as their anchor, the Red Wind arrows across the waves to attack the Children of Wrecks.

They are outnumbered, but they are by no means outclassed. These are the corsairs of the Brass Coast and it becomes very clear that centuries of fighting pirates and raiders stand them in good stead for attacking these jumped-up bandits. Their captains take advantage of their superior maneuverability to strike against the attackers, then peel away leaving sinking wrecks in their wake. Sometimes they rely on sunsteel rams to shatter the hulls of the inferior pirate ships. Sometimes they use hooks and ropes to grapple a vessel, their marines and kohan pouring onto the enemy decks, killing quickly, scuttling the ship, and retreating back onto their own ship. Their sudden attack distracts the Children; the pirates are a barely disciplined rabble and seeing the Freeborn vessels a number of them peel off from the assault on Trivento to fruitlessly chase the faster corsair ships. Those who break away from the main body of the Gathered Storm are easy prey for the Freeborn and the handful of League ships that fight with them.

The heralds and guardians of Siakha’s domain pose the bigger threat to the Freeborn; many of them are as at home in the sea as on land and can swim with preternatural speed and strength. Yet it is not the magical creatures summoned to aid the navy that are the greatest danger. The ships who cluster to the banner of Isidore i Boyaga are former corsair vessels, crewed and captained by former corsairs. Their vessels can match the speed and maneuverability of the Red Wind Corsairs, and they seem to relish the opportunity to face down their former cousins. Yet they are heavily outnumbered, and swiftly learn the folly of trying to engage dozens of angry Freeborn on the open sea. Perhaps when they abandoned their tribe names they lost something fundamental, but they are forced to flee in the face of furious Freeborn retaliation against the traitors.

If the battle at sea is vicious and bloody, it is nothing as to the battle on land. The Children have many raiders among their numbers, and they seem to have learned at least a little from their previous failed attack. Rather than attack the harbour directly, they focus their efforts on the defences. Monstrous carcharadon assail the great chain that closes the harbour, rusting and weakening it with the ruinous strength of Spring. At the same time, warbands of bloodthirsty raiders disembark along the coast and attack Trivento from the landward side. The defenders are forced to fight on two fronts - as shipboard catapults and ballistae bombard the seaward side, the murderous pirates attack from the east (but not from the west - they are not prepared to risk engaging the defenders of the Spider’s Dream, not yet anyway).

This time, fighting spreads into the streets of Trivento itself. League soldiers fight valiantly to prevent the attackers slaughtering the people of Sarvos’ second city, striving to stop them looting and pillaging the wealth of Bocche. Liath’s Blade is at the forefront here - the traitorous Navarr seeming to revel in the chance to spill innocent blood and destroy the homes of the wealthy Leaguers. Many of them voice battle-cries that seem to suggest they are driven by anger over the Empire’s betrayal of the Navarr - by their failure to recover Liathaven from the Jotun. Yet for all their apparent political motivation, they seem particularly keen on taking as much wealth as possible from the League settlement.

As well as the Navarr, the Iron Confederacy contingent - a mismatched flotilla of merchant ships and a few war vessels crewed by escaped convicts - launch a confusing attack on the College of the Liberated. The defenders there claim that they seemed to think that the College was either a school of magic or a “temple to one of the Imperial gods”. Their attack caught the defenders by surprise, forcing the students and staff to defend themselves against a mixture of scared thugs and surprisingly deadly warmages.

Fortunately for the accountants and economists, a band of late-arrived kohan were on hand to come to their aid. The Suranni were under the command of a wizard-captain referred to only as the “Duke of Lies”, a figure swathed in black wearing a sneering theatrical mask. For all their fearsome appearance they were forced to retreat back to the coast before they could inflict serious damage. In the aftermath it became apparent that where most of the Children of Wrecks wield the magic of Spring, many of these form Iron Confederacy criminals had at least a passing familiarity with the shrouds of Night and the wicked enchantments of Winter, calling on the gifts of their patron Dumon the Liar to shatter the doors of the College, and leaving several of the staff wracked with painful curses.

While the League soldiers and scattering of ships fight alongside the Freeborn, they receive aid from an unexpected source. Two dozen Sarcophan ships from the Alvetti Estates arrive shortly after the battle has begin, and throw their support behind the Red Wind Corsairs. They are by no means as maneuverable as the Freeborn corsairs, but their ships are fast and especially sturdy. Among them are three ships belonging to the DeBruin family - mercenaries paid by the Sarcophan enclave in Caricomare to protect Sarcophan traders. They do not fight with the fury of the Freeborn, but their disdain for pirates and cutthroats is palpable - they methodically dismantle any pirate vessel that comes close, preferring to engage them directly and loot the ships of the would-be pillagers.

Defiance Rather Than Hope

In the end, the Children of Wrecks’ second attack in so many seasons goes barely better than the first. They are driven back from Trivento with little to show for it save more scars on their battered hulls - and fewer ships than they started with. The landward attackers are cut to ribbons by the defenders of Trivento, and those who manage to make it back to their ships only manage it by running away with their tails between their legs.

While the Children of Wrecks were driven off with limited damage to Trivento, the Red Wind Corsairs have paid dearly for their valiant defence. If they hadn’t been present, it’s likely the full strength of the Children could have overwhelmed the League defenders and seen them loot the western regions of Sarvos. As before, the attackers strategy was focused around pillaging and killing, rather than claiming land. If it had not been, that too might have seen the situation work out very differently.

As it is, the Corsairs have lost several ships and their crews in the battle of Trivento. The impact was exacerbated by the fact they were caught part-way between land and sea in the process of boarding ships and reconfiguring to make the most of their capacity for naval warfare. With the Children driven off, however, the rest of the corsairs return to Sarvos where they complete their new deployment. The Red Wind Corsairs are now an Imperial navy, ready to pursue the Children or face the Grendel.

For their part the Gathered Storm retreats along the coast to the west, the ragtag armada of scoundrels trailing in its wake. They are surely making for their base in Madruga or Feroz, to lick their wounds and recover from their second defeat. Have they learned their lesson? It’s impossible to say. Perhaps they will seek easier prey - or perhaps they will do the same thing again in expectation of a different result.

Game Information

The Children of Wrecks attacked Sarvos - again The Red Wind Corsairs were present and helped successfully defend Trivento

The attackers have failed again to loot Trivento. A combination of the Great Chain and Our Lady of Pride with the support of the Red Wind Corsairs saw the navy flee westward, presumably towards their strongholds in Madruga or Sarvos. While the raiders inflicted minor damage on Trivento, they were not able to impact Imperial taxation in any meaningful way - as before their strategy was entirely focused on looting and pillaging rather than taking territory.